rules are sometimes meant to be broken
by pearanormalactivity
Summary: It was always Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones. That was the first thing that Max learned, right after learning that Archie Andrews ran through girls like a getaway car ran through stop lights, and that Veronica Lodge was a force to be reckoned with.
1. the beginning

It was always Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones.

That was the first thing that Max learned, right after learning that Archie Andrews ran through girls like a getaway car ran through stop lights, and that Veronica Lodge was a force to be reckoned with.

These were the laws of the land here at Riverdale, and every resident here lived by them. They weren't questioned, or argued. They just were. She continued to learn more things, like how Pop's Chock Lit Shoppe was the place that all the kids went to hangout, and Cheryl Blossom was a total bitch but everyone felt sympathetic for her because of her dead twin brother. That all the parents were psycho, and it was the job of the kids to learn from their mistakes and become the people that their parents never could. It was always rainy, and usually cold, and it was miles and miles until you reached the nearest beach.

This was how it was, and everyone accepted it.

So who was Max to argue?

Her first day of school was slightly different than the rest of her days at Riverdale would be. She was the talk of the town, because the town was small and she was new and had a pretty face. Her mother made her a breakfast of toast and fruit, and she dressed slightly nicer than she usually would. She walked through the doors of the high school and caught many stares that continued throughout the day. Betty Cooper gave her a tour of the school, and Max learned three things: 1: Betty Cooper was the kindest girl in Riverdale, and often was nice to people who didn't deserve it, 2: She dealt with a ton of drama and mystery sophomore year that has something to do with dead twin of Cheryl, and 3: She was utterly and completely head over heels for Jughead Jones. Whoever he was.

"So, how do you feel about Riverdale so far? Be honest." Betty was smiling over her shake, a classic vanilla.

"Being completely honest, its dreary appearance and negative publicity really lowered my initial judgement," Max states. "But you've really given it some positive light, Betty Cooper. That and the fact that it hasn't disappointed me yet." She smiles, scooping a bite of her root beer float as Betty laughs.

"I think you'll come to find that Riverdale has it's own little taste of magic." They both smile, and Betty opens her mouth, but her eyes betray her, locking glance at the door. Her words never form; instead her mouth forms a smile and her hands excitedly wave over the visitors who just entered Pop's. Max meets Betty's gaze to discover the red and raven haired boy and girl she would be later introduced to as Archie Andrews and Veronica Lodge.

"Arch! Ronnie! Over here!" Her voice is like music, and the two are drawn to it. Max stares, her eyes slowly tracing Archie's figure up and down, and then Veronica's. They are both beautiful in their own ways, Archie toned and chiseled, obviously an important member of the football team, while Veronica soft and sweet, covered head to toe in midnight. Max takes interest in both of them, smiling softly as they slide into her and Betty's booth.

"Veronica Lodge, nice to meet you," Veronica greets with a smile, taking a seat next to Max. "The ginger here is–"

"Archie Andrews. Happy to meet you." He is smiling as well, with a glint of attraction in his eye as he eyes Max. Anything half attractive with a pulse and Archie is all over it.

"Maximum Salvatore, but I go by Max. Really nice to meet y'all!"

"Y'all," Veronica laughs, at the same time that Archie whistles.

"Maximum, huh. That's an interesting name. Looks like Jughead's not the only odd name we know," He nudges Betty playfully, the light in her eyes when Jughead was mentioned clearly evident.

"Oh shut up Andrews." She laughs, nudging him back just as playfully. "Let me out? Have to pee." She slides over him, rolling her eyes at the "oh!" he makes as she escapes.

"Who is Jughead? I keep hearing about him, but I haven't seen him anywhere. Does he go to Riverdale high?" Max is genuinely curious, because his name has been brought up in more than enough conversations, but his face always fails to make the picture.

"Jughead is, as you probably guessed, Betty's boyfriend. He used to go here, but he had some issues and…now he goes to South Side. But he's coming back, right Arch?"

"For sure." Archie is diving into Betty's shake, almost inhaling the thing. "No doubt in my mind. We'd miss him too much to let him stay there."

"Hey, did Pop's redo the bathroom, because there's new–Archie! Stop that right now!" Betty reenters the picture, rushing towards the redhead and his messy slurping.

"I mean it Arch, get your own!" She is in the middle of trying to pry it from his steel fingers and wipe the mischievous grin off his face, when the door rings and someone enters. The shake is forgotten in an instant.

Max can't breathe.

There, in midnight glory and topped with a beanie for a king, was–

" _That's_ Jughead Jones." Veronica whispers, but Max _knows,_ she knows because who else would Betty look at with hearts for eyes.

 _Jughead Jones._

It hits her right away and all at once, this–this _feeling_ that must be the feeling that soulmates get when they see the one. It _must_ be, because her chest is imploding and exploding all at once, and her breath is gone and her stomach does flip after flip. She can't stop looking at him, even after Veronica and Archie stop. Even after Jughead has hugged Betty, and his eyes have ran around the room. Even when he takes notice. They make eye contact and her chest burns, and she wonders if he feels any of this. If there's any chance that her life won't simply be a one sided mope story. But then he's looking at Betty, and she realizes that the chances are very likely.

"Max, this is Jughead. Jughead, this is Max." Betty introduces them with a grin, unaware that Max just experienced something beyond comprehension. Jughead meets her eyes and smiles. Her heart is turned liquid from warmth.

"Nice to meet you, Max."

"Her real name is Maximum!" Veronica mentions, and Jughead raises his eyebrows.

"Almost as weird as Jughead, dontcha think?" Archie comments, stuffing his face with fries that somehow appeared.

Max smiles. "My parents did a lot of drugs. They were on shrooms at Woodstock when they thought of the name."

"No way!" Veronica gasps, and the table erupts into shocked laughter.

"What's your excuse?" Max directs the question at Jughead, trying her absolute best to pretend that this was a normal conversation and she didn't just have a revelation that he might possibly be her soulmate.

"My head was in a jug looking shape when I was a kid, and my mother and father teased me all throughout my childhood." He smiles, and it's directed at Max, which makes her heart sing.

Secretly though.

"But they didn't refrain from using your real name when you were in trouble," Archie states, shooting a glance at Veronica.

"Which is…" Veronica states suspiciously, staring at Jughead and waiting for him to finish the sentence.

"Which is 'none of your buisness'," He smirks, causing the two to scowl angrily.

"Dammit!" Archie grumbles, looking at his shoes.

"You're gonna tell us one day, Jug." Betty smiles, leaning into his shoulder. He puts his arm around her, smiling.

"We all have a bet," Veronica whispers to Max. "Seeing who will get Jughead to confess his real name. Or find it out somehow."

"It's never going to happen, don't quit your day jobs." Jughead smirks.

Max stares him straight in the eyes, smirking. "I want to join the bet. Sign me up."

Time grew, and when it reached a month of Max in Riverdale, she faced herself with the facts. 1: Jughead Jones was her soulmate, and 2: She would forever just have to accept it but never do anything about it because 3: It was always Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones.


	2. a motorcycle

In the entirety of their experience at Riverdale High, Betty Cooper, Archie Andrews, Veronica Lodge, Kevin Keller and Jughead Jones shared a table at the cafeteria. And this year, junior year, not much had changed. Except for that Jughead Jones left, and Maximum Salvatore simply joined them instead. Max could tell that even though she brought some new charisma to the table, the absence of Jughead Jones was forever in the back of their minds, especially Betty's. And so, Max felt that it was especially her duty to fill in the hole he left in the best way she could, distracting them from their friend on the other side of the tracks.

"I am beyond tired right now." Max says, putting her tray down on the cafeteria table.

"Did you wake up in the middle of the night. Again." Veronica states, feigning sympathy with a cherry lipgloss smirk.

"I don't need your sardonic humor Ronnie, it's actually such a problem!" Max whines.

"I can't get any of my REM cycles." She takes a bite of an apple in remorse.

"Hey Max, Ronnie, whats up?" Betty sits across from the pair, smiling.

"Hey Bets."

"Hey g."

"Okay is it just me, or is there a severe shortage of meat in Riverdale High." Veronica comments, looking around the room solemnly.

"What? They always have enough turkey and ham in the cafeteria!" Betty states, confused.

"No, Betty," Veronica laughs. "I mean meat as in male material. There is almost none of it available."

"Agree. This town is too small and the boys are lacking too many necessary hormones." Says Max. Of course, she only had her eye on one boy, but no one knew or needed to know that. "And if they are attractive, there is something that completely knocks them off the table."

"That is not true. What about…Reggie? He's cute." Betty suggests wholeheartedly.

Veronica and Max look at each other.

"No thanks." They say simultaneously.

"You're just not miserable because you have your own knight in shining armor." Veronica nudges Betty playfully, as a rush of pink runs through Betty's cheeks.

"There really isn't any guy I'm DTF. I'm honestly pissed." Max comments, shoving her fork into her salad.

"You guys will find someone soon enough! I know you will," Betty's sympathetic comment doesn't help much, but Max smiles anyway. It's nice that she's trying.

"Hello ladies, what conversation are we having today?" Archie swings his feet over the bench and takes a seat next to Betty.

"How this school is currently lacking any sort of boyfriend material." Veronica informs him.

"Alright, you say that like I am not right here and perfectly available," Archie teases with a golden smile.

For the second time, Veronica and Max share a look.

"Definitely not."

"Frankly I'm shocked and offended." Archie pretends to pout, but they all know he isn't the least bit offended by their remark.

"Look I'm sure you guys will find your dreamboats one day," Betty comforts Max and Veronica. "I mean, we still have so much of our life left, and I heard college is when things really get crazy."

"Mmmm…college," Max grins.

"That is so far away from now. Ages and ages." Veronica complains, taking a bite of her pasta mournfully.

School passes by quickly but miserably, as it always does. It's as soon as the bell rings that the gang gathers together once again, to make their way home. Junior year means cars, and driving, and so they head to the parking lot to find their designated cars in their designated spots, before taking the designated route home. Archie in his Tahoe, Veronica in her Porsche, Betty in her Jeep and Max in her bug. Usually. Except today was different, because Max's bug was in the shop, leaving her without transport and forced to hitch rides.

"Anyone want to drive me home today? Two more days until Junebug is out of the shop." Junebug was the embarrassing yet suitable name that Max gave her car.

"I would Max, but I have to go straight to the music shop for my guitar. Supposed to be in today." Archie grins, and Max high fives him.

"Sick Arch. Send me a pic."

"Sure thing, Maximum overdrive." He parts ways to his car, waving goodbye to the rest of the assembled members of the group.

"I'll drive you!" Betty's tone is dripping with sweetness, as always, and Max shoots her a huge grin.

"Betty! I owe you a huge one. Bye Ronnie!"

"Bye Ron!" The two girls yelled goodbye to Veronica, who was diverting course to her own car. Betty gets a text, which she opens vigorously and reads.

"Oh my goodness I almost forgot that Jug is picking me up today!" Max heart picks up a little at the sound of his name, her mind screaming at it to knock it off. This is no time for feelings.

"Ah well, I can always get a ride from Kev or something," Max smiles, pulling out her phone to shoot him a text.

"No no no, it's totally fine. I'll just ask him to drop you off! You live like a block away from me so it's honestly no biggie. I'll just text him."

"Betty, it's fine. I can totally get a ride." Max is lowkey trying to avoid being the third wheel, but Betty is not having it.

"Absolutely not. You are not going to be stranded here! We are taking you home."

Max sighs. "Alright, well thanks Bets. I owe you and Jug one." The two girls take a seat on a bench outside of the school, waiting for their knight to come on his black stallion and pick them up.

"Don't worry about it."

"No forreal girl. You've honestly made my experience as a new kid so easy and convenient, and I literally cannot thank you enough for that." Max is genuine, because without Betty she wouldn't be friends with anyone.

Betty smiles at Max, pure and honest. "It was no trouble at all, you fit right in. We all love you Max." A beep goes off from her phone, and she looks down, reading it.

"Alright, Juggy's here." They both stand, looking around for a car. But of course, Jughead Jones does not drive a car.

He drives a motorcycle.

What else? His hair rustling in the wind, calloused fingers tightly gripping the handlebars. Even with the helmet his grin was visible.

"Oh my god." Betty is in shock and for good reason. Max erupts in laughter.

"Jughead Jones the third. What else, but a motorcycle?"

He pulls up to the girls, pulling his helmet off in a fluid motion. Jughead Jones isn't normally seen as sexy attractive, that's normally Archie's job. But not this time. He pulls off his helmet and it's _hot._ It's really sexy, and the two blondes know it. Max gets the tingly feeling that takes over every time she sees him. He is grinning.

"Like the ride?"

"I love it." Max states, the same time that Betty says "Is this safe?"

"Of course it's safe. Thank you, Max." His grin is for her, and she feels it in her very being.

"Only problem is, I think two's the limit on this thing."

"You don't mind waiting a bit, do you Max?" Betty is nervous with this question, guilty for making Max wait, since that was the one thing she tried to prevent in offering to drive Max home. Max shrugs.

"Not at all. Seriously y'all, I can get another ride –"

"I will be back here in five minutes for you." Jughead declares. "If not, you can find another ride. Deal?"

Max smiles. "Deal."

It's four minutes and thirty-two seconds when he pulls up, and this time Betty is not seated behind him.

"My time?"

"Four thirty-two. Cutting it close," Max warns, standing up from her spot on the bench.

"Hey, I still made it. Here," He pats to the space behind where he's sitting, a smile on his face. Max hesitates.

"Hop on," He readjusts his helmet.

It's a blur of thoughts, because someone with a girlfriend should probably not be driving a girl on the back of his motorcycle. But Betty said he could, and it was going to be a short ride, and so Max says 'fuck it' and throws one leg over the seat.

The distance between them is large; Max does not wrap her arms around his waist for support because he is strictly off limits, and she has to keep himself that way in her mind. Instead her hands rest on the seat, and her mind prays that she will not fly backwards because her stubbornness and her inability to let herself touch Jughead Jones.

"Where do you live again?"

"3498 Northgreen Ave."

"Alright," Max could tell he was smiling. "Let us go then."

He begins to drive.

He is a terribly reckless driver.

The third stop in she flies forward, her arms flinging out of control and grabbing the only thing that was able to steady her, which happened to be him. So long to her plan of no touch. She allows her arms to tighten around his waist, pretending that she is unaware that he is NOT scrawny and instead has a large amount of concentrated muscle in his abdomen. ' _This is for safety',_ she tells herself, but it feels so much more than that and her heart knows it. It's racing, a mile a minute. She grips his t-shirt hard.

He laughs. "Sorry, not super used to driving this yet."

She snorts. "I can definitely tell. Tell my parents I love them if I don't make it to my house?"

He chuckles. "You can tell them yourself, because you are going to survive." And with that, he takes off again. Max holds on to him like she loves him. Because she does.


	3. a milkshake

**JUST LETTING YALL KNOW: this takes place after first season baby. ik ik im sorry but riverdale is like so complicated i cant even keep up and that was when i started the story lol WHOOPS anyways xoxo enjoy sorry bout the wait**

It was too loud in the Salvadore house.

Her parents had been fighting a lot more than usual, which wouldn't have bothered Maximum so much except that she was the main reason for all the fights. That and the family income, which was waning and slowly robbing them of more every day. Before her father had been let go at his company and forced to relocate to a job with a much smaller payroll, her family felt like a safe haven from the stress and worries of school. Now they hardly had moments all together that didn't end up in a fight, and her school began to become the safe haven.

Funny how things turn around so fast.

The pillow Max is stuffing her face into isn't working, and she could still hear them screaming at each other. It felt like it was invading her very being, their horrible words filling her with a toxic poison she couldn't get rid of. Clawing at her very soul, telling her that she was the reason of all of this–

She stands up.

Takes a deep breath.

Grabs her bag and leaves the house.

If she is completely honest, Pop's kind of sucked, the first few times she went. I mean, who goes to a diner to spend their pastime? What kind of 1950's world were they living in where a diner was preferred over a regular old coffee shop?

But then it grew on her, little by little. It was kind of cute, the neon lights and the red booths, and _oh,_ the ability to get shakes whenever. That is something never before seen in the places she used to hangout in.

And so that is where she finds herself, not really wanting to speak to anyone but Pop, with the only intention being to drown herself in a milkshake. Which she did. With no regrets. Her headphones are on, and her thoughts are being typed out furiously, her poor computer taking the damage of her skinny fingers jabbing with full force.

A hand rests on her shoulder.

She looks up, and it's almost as if everything is in slow motion. It's Jughead.

He gives her a smile, one that she can't help but reciprocate back.

"Hey stranger." His voice is low, and has a hum to it that makes her want to jump all over him. Which she does not do, of course.

"You look like you are about to poke a hole through the computer with all that aggressive typing." He slides into the booth across from her, a small smile still on that goddamn beautiful face of his. Max pulls out her earbuds, giving a small laugh.

"Great, I can't even type out my teenage angst without someone judging me." She closes the laptop slowly, pushing it to the side.

"Something pretty bad must have happened, because I basically live here and I have not seen your face around before today." He gives her a deep look. "So, what's up?"

She pauses for a moment. Even though she was hopelessly in love with this boy, she was reluctant to tell him her problems. She was reluctant to tell anyone her problems, really.

"I'm kind of one of those people who lets their problems bottle up inside of them until they spill over, but thank you for trying." She jokes, taking a sip of her shake and hoping he can't see the pain behind her eyes.

He can.

But he is nice, and understands. He doesn't press for more, instead pulling out his own laptop.

"Suit yourself. I am not that way, I am writing and I need major help; someone to confide in for a voice and direction. Care to help?" He flips the laptop open, giving her a somewhat pleading look.

"Does Betty not help you with this kind of stuff?" She says it before she can stop herself, but once it's out there she wishes it back. Of course, she would say something like this and be not cool. Out of all of the friends, this is the one she knew the least, and probably the one that would like her the least now.

But he just laughs.

"Betty has her own work cut out for her. Plus, it's nice to get a little new perspective every once and awhile. Especially since you are new and kind of have an objective look on the whole situation."

Max smiles. "I can give you my objective opinions on anything here."

Jughead raises an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

Max leans forward, elbows on the table.

"Ask away."

"Alright then. Cheryl Blossom."

"Annoying, rude, and too much to deal with frankly. Y'all are too nice to put up with her. I honestly want nothing to do with her, have had nothing to do with her, and am grateful for it every single day." Max grins.

"Y'all, I love it." Jughead chuckles, typing some stuff down. Max blushes.

"Alright, next: Riverdale high cafeteria food."

"Disgusting. All I have to say, next."

Jughead laughs. "Can't say I disagree with you on that one. Okay hmm…how about…Reggie."

Max thinks for a second. "Cute, but his masculinity is so strong that it's almost like he's…hiding something behind it. Take from that what you will."

Jughead is throwing his head back with laugher at this one, his fingers typing furiously.

"I cannot believe you just said that."

"You said objective opinion! I'm only delivering what you asked for." Max grins, her ability to make him laugh giving her more delight than it should.

"Okay um…Southside serpents?" This one is more serious, and Max is thinking for so long that Jughead looks up at the computer to give her a questioning look. She knows his dad is one, she has heard it around and is not an idiot. Whether he is one or not, who knows. He hasn't said much about it.

"I–I don't really know. I think it's cool that they all look out for each other. Obviously, I don't condone the things they are doing, but I think it's hard to uh, survive in the conditions they do and they are doing the best they can." As she's saying this, she realizes that she believes it. She never really had an opinion of them, but as the words come out of her mouth, it makes sense. Jughead nods silently.

"That one was more of a personal question. I don't know what to do about the whole situation, my dad being one of them and all." He sighs, looking up at her with a tiredness in his eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"I guess I just…I mean on one hand, I have Betty and Archie and Veronica all telling me that the Southside Serpents are trash and trouble and to never go to their side. But on the other, it's my dad. And they are kind of the closest thing I have to family." He sighs with tired eyes.

"Yeah, I understand what you mean I guess." Max states flatly.

Jughead looks up. "What do you mean?"

"My dad was in some shady stuff before we moved here. He got caught, and fired. Nothing Hiram Lodge type, just…bad stuff. But at the same time, when he was doing the bad stuff, it was the happiest my family ever was." Max won't make eye contact, instead fiddling with the straw of her shake. "I barely know anything about the Serpents, though. I've only been here for a month."

She hesitates before asking, "Why do you want to know what I think about them?"

He pauses. "I care about your opinion, I guess." He shrugs. Max's heart stops.

Holy shit.

She has to try really, really hard to be cool.

"Anyways, I probably should be going. I think Betty wants me to stop by her house before the party tonight. You're coming, right?"

Max pauses. "I guess. Veronica has been begging for me to come all week. She keeps telling me she needs a friend that isn't tied down." Both of them laugh.

"I enjoyed this. You should come more often." His eyes are warm and on her.

"No promises." She grins.

"Not even to keep me company?" He pouts playfully.

"What's in it for me?"

"Some lovely conversation and a person to vent to. And maybe a dedication to my book, if you're lucky." He grins, beginning to pack up his stuff.

"Hmm…I guess I'll consider it." She jokes, pretending like her heart is beating at a normal pace and her palms aren't caked in sweat.

"I'll take that as a yes. Bye, Max." He gives her a dazzling smile.

"See ya, Jughead." She returns it, and with that, he's gone.

She lets out a breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding.

Holy shit.

It was hopeless.

Returning to Pop's after that would definitely be an act of suicide, a hole that she couldn't dig herself out of. She definitely shouldn't continue this, not with her feelings and his relationship with Betty.


	4. a conversation

Max returned to Pop's 2 days later.

Granted, she did actually have things to do, and _yes,_ she could have done them numerous amounts of places besides the diner, but every alternate location had some sort of inconvenient excuse she made up in her mind to convince her that Pop's was her only option.

When she enters the door, the bell chimes throughout the room. Jughead is already placed in a booth, typing away furiously. He looks up.

Shoots her a grin.

Her heart melts.

He tilts his head towards the open seat, and it takes her a few seconds to realize that her feet are floating towards his table. She sits, almost confused on how she got there.

"Hey stranger." His teeth are blindingly white.

"Hey." It's breathless and weak sounding, and her head is spinning so much it takes a second for her to realize that Pop was standing at their table and asking if she wanted anything.

"Oh, yes. A milkshake."

"What flavor?" Pop's has a twinkle in his eye and a soft smile on his face when he asks.

"Ah. Yes. Flavor. Vanilla." She dazedly states, and with a smile Pop's is gone with her order. Jughead is back to typing, and she takes this as an opportunity to take out her own computer and open it up. Faced with a blank page, she sighs and stares for a while, thoughts running rampant in her mind.

"Do you like your new school at all?" She is surprised by the words that come out of her mouth, her thoughts flowing into sound. He looks up.

"I'd say yeah. The education is shit, and the location and utilities are shit, but I vibe with the people there. They're different from Riverdale –"

Max snorts.

"I can only imagine." She is quick to catch herself. "Not–that they are like, ratchet or anything. Just that like, Riverdale people are snobs. Some of them. It's opposite. I don't know what I'm saying, continue."

Jughead laughs.

"I do miss the Riverdale vibe. You guys at least. My friends. But the Southside people are pretty good friends as well. Just in a more 'I'll kick your ass if you talk bad about my friends' kind of way."

"Interesting. I'd think I'd win in a fight." Max comments, grinning.

Jughead smirks. "Interesting. What brings you to that conclusion?"

"Well my uncle taught me how to fight once. Fists tight, thumbs not tucked in, arms together, cover your face. I think people would underestimate me –"

"Understandably so."

"–Shut up, and I would win. Against a Riverdale girl, at least. Like Josie, or something."

"I think if you touched Josie the mayor would personally remove you from the town."

Max laughs. "You right. Sick way to go though."

Jughead pauses for a second.

"Are you glad you moved here? To Riverdale, I mean."

Max thinks. There are many reasons she likes Riverdale, and a big part of it is him. But she can't say that. And she's mad at herself for even thinking it. She has turned into somewhat of a lovesick idiot, acting like he is her world when he has a _girlfriend_ and she doesn't even know him super well. So, she thinks about the other things.

"Well I wasn't exactly thrilled when my parents told me we were moving here. And the pictures on Google didn't really help reestablish the image –y'all need to get more attractive photos of the town, notify the tourism department or something –and I wasn't happy for a little. But I like my friends here, and the creepy woods vibe kind of grew on me. I guess you could say I'm not exactly glad, but more…content." She finishes with satisfaction over the way she phrased it.

He stares at her with wide eyes, nodding.

"Interesting. So if there was an opportunity to move back–"

"I'd still take it in an instant. And you'd cry about me for days, I'm sure." She grins, and he laughs.

"Months."


	5. a cure for writer's block

Their hangouts at Pop's become a common occurrence, occasionally joined with characters like Archie or Bettie (sigh) but always filled with conversation. Max learns countless things about Jughead, like his favorite movie (Psycho) and why he wears that beanie all the time (He said he's a weirdo, and she slapped him and commented on how cringe he was after he said this). He learned about her favorite color (yellow) and how her pet peeve is when people eat entire bagels without any topping and don't even consider to cut the bagel in half, the monsters. She eventually tells him about her parents fighting, and he tells her about the immense pressure to become a serpent by everyone contrasted with the resistance for it to happen from his dad. It gets to the point where he is ordering her vanilla milkshakes when he gets there first, and she orders him a black coffee when she does.

"I have never been more stuck." Max groans, slamming backspace with one finger repeatedly.

"You are still having writers block for that one part?" Jughead raises an eyebrow, looking up. He knows she had been writing a short story for her creative writing class for a few weeks now, and this was about the fourth day with no progress.

"I can't do it. I quit. I am officially, and I am declaring it now, uncreative. Creative bankruptcy. I retire my creativity." She shuts her computer and rubs her temples.

"No. Wrong. Don't. Say that." He points a finger at her accusingly, and she laughs.

"Fine. I won't. Stop bullying me." She smacks his finger, and reopens her computer. They work in silence for a bit.

"Hey."

Max lifts her head from the computer.

"I've been saving up some money these past few weeks."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, because there is an Oscar gambling pool, and I am pretty sure I can win it."

Max laughs. "You're an idiot."

"Hey!"

"I seriously thought it was going to be for something where the payoff was amazing, like you were going to pay to send off that goddamned million-page novel of yours off to publishers with the hopes of making it big in the author world, but _no_ , you are gambling."

Jughead thinks for a second. "Nope you're so right, scratch my idea that is what I am going to do. But first–" he slams his computer shut and abruptly shoots up from the booth. He shuts Max's computer as well, before sticking out a hand with a grin on his face.

"I have to take you somewhere." His face is lit with a huge smile.

"Um, I was told never to go with a stranger to a secondary location." Max jokes, and Jughead chuckles while rolling his eyes.

"Come on Maximum, while it's still light outside."

Hmm. Outside? Now Max was a little concerned.

But she took his hand with a grin anyways.

He takes her to this tree where the town met the forest, with tons of twisting, winding branches hanging low to the ground. They climb a decent height, until there is a comfortable place on the branch with perfect room for two.

"Here, is my magic, secret, amazing, wonderful writer's block spot. It's where I always go when I'm stuck." Jughead tells her, and she looks around. It is somewhat enchanting.

"What's the success rate?" She asks.

"One hundred percent. The edge of civilization, where humanity meets wild. It's the cure to end all cures." He breathes, and Max can't help but watch him. He is captivating, the light from the branches glinting on his face and his eyes twinkling with delight.

"Alright well I just checked and it's not on yelp so I'm trusting your statistics. Don't let me down." She jokes, and he throws his head back with laughter.

She finishes her creative writing story.

They stay for a little longer, two almost-adults in a tree, just chatting.

"So, I know you've vaguely mentioned it before but, your dad…" Jughead is timid with this question, knowing it could very much hit too close to home. Max winces a little, but begins to explain.

"Yeah, him. He was a nurse, right. At St. Matthew's Hospital. It was primarily a hospital for people who had life threatening illnesses, and a lot of it was funded by donations, so the patients could have a less costly treatment. Well there were lots of drugs and prescriptions involved with these patients, and it comes out that my father was feeding them placebos, and selling the real drugs in the drug trade for money. He was fired from the hospital and his ADN license immediately got revoked. He came here because his brother in law has a mechanics business here, and he needed a job."

Jughead is very quiet as the story is told, listening intently.

"It's just fucked, because he was doing so well in his job from what I remember. He would come home with these expensive gifts for me and mom, and I would just be so proud of him for all he did. That he was so successful, and smart, and righteous. I looked up to him more than anyone in my life. And then it came out, and it was all a lie. Everything I knew about him." She exhales slowly, realizing her whole body was tensed. She unclenches her hands.

"I knew my family was shit all along, but you had no idea." He is looking at her intently. "I'm sorry for that."

She looks into the distance.

"It's fine. I'm fine, I guess."

"No, that's fucked, and I'm so sorry. You don't deserve any of that." He places a hand on her shoulder, and they meet eyes. His are emerald green. And she can tell he means it. She can't stop staring at his eyes, and without thinking her eyes glance to his lips. She quickly shifts them back up to suddenly realize that his focus has now shifted to her own lips.

 _What._

Her heart lurches, her mind running a mile a minute. Time seems to slow down. Butterflies erupt in her stomach. She can't stop thinking about Betty.

 _What the fuck is happening?_

A phone rings.

It's Jughead's.

It's Betty.

He picks up, and says a few words, before ending the call.

They sit in silence until it gets dark and he drives her back to her car.

She wouldn't have kissed him. Betty was always in the back of her mind when she was with him, and she wouldn't have. And he wouldn't have kissed her, he was just comforting her because she was vulnerable and upset. He was just being a good friend.

She knows all too well that he will never be hers.


	6. a distraction

Jughead moves back to Riverdale High.

It is all very sudden, Veronica got her father to pull a favor and even though Jughead didn't initially favor the transition back all too much, the more he talked about it with Max, the more he realized that this was where he belonged. With his best friends.

With Betty.

He immediately got thrown back into all the things he left. Writing for the Blue and Gold, sitting with the gang at lunch, and getting to spend more time with his girl.

It all hit Max very quickly. Jughead went from a 'boy who went to another school who was dating Betty' to just 'dating Betty'. Max had never really seen this before, and it was slowly consuming her like a wave in a hurricane.

They are at a party when the wave finally crashes, a sudden extreme aching in her chest and loss of breath when she sees Betty and him cuddling on the couch. They're happy. And they should be. They worked exceedingly well together, the ideal parts of one spilling over into the flaws of another, and somehow making them more complete. People say young love is stupid, but they can't deny that it's powerful. And their love was.

Jughead and Betty were obviously poking fun at each other, both lit with smiles and aglow with energy. They locked eyes and shared lips like a goddamn movie.

She left the party early.

It took a few days to really wrap her head around this. Yes, she had known it all along, but really witnessing the two of them in action, in _love,_ was something she hadn't really absorbed until that night. And though she didn't believe in love at first sight until Jughead, that damned boy, she didn't want to base her entire life off of it. It would frankly be a waste of love to give. And though she didn't want to admit it, she had a lot of love to give.

She began to hang out with Archie and Veronica more.

For two people who were passionately in love one moment and completely broken up not even 3 weeks later, they got along wonderfully. Max could hardly understand it, and she didn't think they really did either. But they were fine, as all breakups turn out to be eventually, and a great distraction from her ever-collapsing home life.

"Maxaroni and cheese, my love. My bestie. My literal wife. Please, _please_ help me with this Calculus." Veronica throws her pencil down on her stack of math papers with a huff, turning to Max with the saddest puppy dog eyes she could muster.

Max rolls her eyes.

"Only if you never say those god-awful things again, Jesus Christ." She reaches to pick up the pencil, her eyes examining the various problems.

"Ronnie, when is this due?"

Veronica looks at her with a sheepish grin on her face.

"Um. 6th period."

Max can't help but drop her jaw a little. "Oh my God. Oh my God! You're an idiot! There's like twenty-five problems and you have done two!" She tries her hardest to keep a straight face, but can't help but smile a little at the idiot move her friend had pulled.

"Max I really, _really,_ need to get this done. I haven't done the last two homeworks and if I don't do this one I'm one hundred percent going to have to seduce Mr. Keller into letting me off the hook and I would actually perish if I had to do that." Veronica shudders dramatically at the thought, putting on a show for Max.

Max once again rolls her eyes, a grin plastered on her face.

"I will buy you an entire wardrobe for the parties this weekend if you do this for me, _please_ Maxie." Veronica grabs Max's hands and pouts her lip, being as dramatic as she could muster.

"Well– "

Max is abruptly cut off at the appearance of Archie, who plops down at the cafeteria table.

"Hey ladies. Where's Jughead and Betty?"

"Working on something for the Blue and Gold. Here," Max grabs one of the homework sheets and places it in front of Archie. "Do this. Ronnie is buying all the alcohol this weekend if we get this done before 6th period, and I'm tag teaming you. We are tag teaming it."

Archie's eyes light up. "Oh shit, free alcohol? I need a pencil."

"Max!" Veronica cries out, her hands shooting up in a 'what the fuck' gesture. Max grins.

"I think it's a fair deal. Please Ronnie?" It's her turn to shoot the puppy eyes towards the raven-haired girl.

Veronica sighs. "Yeah, I guess it's fair. Only because I love you two."

"Sweet!" Archie cheers as he and Max high five. Archie digs through his backpack before pulling out the saddest, most pathetic pencil he can find. Veronica stares at him.

"Archie," She says.

He looks up.

"Please take one of my pencils and throw that God-awful one away, its begging to be trashed."

"It's probably the saddest thing I have ever seen," Max adds with a laugh, and Archie thinks a moment before grabbing the one Veronica had extended towards him.

"You guys have saved me in so many ways."

"Arch you take ten, I'll do ten, and Ronnie I'm giving you three. Can you do that?" Max looks over at Veronica for approval.

Veronica takes a short breath, staring intently at the paper.

"I hope so."

"Alright, dream team let's get it."

They finish the Calculus just before lunch ends, and Max and Archie could not be more stoked. They are excitedly chatting through the halls of Riverdale High when they (quite literally) run into Jughead and Betty.

"Hey, watch where you're going punk," Archie jokes, and their faces erupt in smiles. Max feels a small pang in her chest. Small, but still there.

"Arch, you really need to be more careful when you are bounding down the hall like that." Betty says with a smile.

"Well I'll be more careful if you stop bursting out of doors looking super suspicious," He beams in return.

They continue to banter when Jughead catches Max off guard, turning to her.

"Max! I haven't seen you in a while." He smiles warmly, and she tries to suffocate the butterflies in her stomach. "I'm missing my writing buddy at Pop's. Where have you been?"

Max pauses for a second to think about what to say.

"Yeah totally my bad. Things have gotten a little much, I guess. Been trying to distract myself." She gives him an uneasy smile and hopes he thinks it's because of her family life and nothing else.

"Well, Pop's and I are lonely. You will be very welcomed on your return." He jokes, and it's lighthearted, and Max is begging herself not to read into it any further.

"As soon as my allowance kicks in, I'll be there." She replies, and immediately is internally kicking herself. That would continue to make things so much worse.

He grins. "Great. Shoot me a text and I'll have a vanilla milkshake waiting." And then him and Betty head in the opposite direction. It all happened astoundingly fast.

"Oh my God I'm about to pass out in this next class, I'm exhausted." Archie declares, and Max lightly hits him.

"You're an idiot for eating barbecue for lunch, Archie."

And so, life goes on, and Max is shoving all of her thoughts about you know who (not Voldemort, the _other_ one) into the back of her mind and pretending it's all okay.

Because it is.

Right?


	7. a restraint

It was two days after her encounter with Jughead that she finally decides to get it over with. She shoots him a text, simple and sweet.

 _pop's?_

Ignoring how her heart races, she shoves her things in her school bag. It's not long before her phone buzzes.

 _Currently Stationed. Getting your order right now_

She can't help but smile, just a little. She allows herself that much. It was a friendly, ' _he's my friend and he cares about me in a friend-type way and I'm allowed to have friends and he's a good one'_ type smile, she tells herself. And then she heads over.

She opens the door and is followed with the ring of a bell, immediately spotting Jughead positioned at their regular table. He turns his head and beams at her, and it's so radiant she can't help but reciprocate. She walks over and plops down across from him.

"Hey loser."

"One vanilla milkshake, slightly melted so it doesn't get stuck in the straw." He slides it over, coupled with an unwrapped straw, and she grabs it with a smile.

"Actually, I'm going no straw today. Save the Earth style."

"Wow. Get you a girl." Jughead smirks, and she laughs.  
"I know right." She grabs the milkshake and takes the best slurp she can muster before setting it back down frantically. The shake had been tilted a little too sharply and vanilla was sent spilling on her face and down the sides of the glass. Jughead erupts in laughter.

"Max, you got a little something– "

"I know, shut up," She whines, grabbing some napkins with incredible speed and dabbing her face. Jughead throws his head back, apparently this was very hilarious to him. Max's eyes narrow.

"I am saving the Earth and this is how you treat me?" She jokingly accuses, and he continues to chuckle.

"I think you kind of dropped the ball when you grabbed all the napkins." He gestures to the plethora of them scattered on the table. Now it's Max's turn to laugh, swatting her hand at him playfully.

"I hate you Jughead Jones." She grins lightly at him.

"I know." He returns the smile with one of his own.

And suddenly she is flooded with reminders of caution, to not let herself get tangled into him any deeper than she already was. Her smile fades, and she quickly diverts her attention to her bag, fumbling around for her computer.

"Any new stories?" Jughead asks curiously, as she focuses intensely on the opening of her Macbook.

"Well there's this– " She pauses. She can't let herself do this. "–No. Not really." She comments emotionlessly. A moment of silence passes and she looks up, meeting his eyes. Jughead is sitting there with a questioning look on his face. He obviously expected her to elaborate.

"Uh–we are studying different author's works this unit." It's a lie, and she is literally pulling up her new story as she says this, but if Jughead is suspicious of anything he doesn't say.

"Huh. I guess they changed the curriculum a bit from when I took it last year." Max nods as he says this, but is internally screaming ' _fuck'_ in her mind.

"Yeah, I don't know."

 _'_ _You are probably the biggest idiot in the world,'_ Max thinks to herself, but says nothing. Her eyes burn holes in her computer as she pretends to be doing anything, and the conversation falls silent. It remains like this for a while before Jughead speaks up.

"Alright listen to this."

Max looks up at him timidly.

"Betty and I are working on this really intense piece for the Blue and Gold. See, we are ninety-nine percent sure that the meat from the cafeteria has been recycled and reused for literal months. Disgusting right?"

"Right." Max comments shortly.

"Yeah, and that's got to be _illegal_ on some grounds, I mean that is completely insane! We have been gathering anecdotes for a while on different people who have experienced their meat tasting or looking strange, and we are almost done collecting information on the people who have felt physically sick. I think it's going to be an amazing piece when we are done, what do you think?"

Max wants to open her mouth, wants to get into a hearty conversation about how intense this piece is and how much she loves it, and pester him to add at least a few meat based puns in there, but she stops herself. If she did that, if she continued to do that, it would eventually kill her.

"Sounds really good."

She almost winces as it comes out of her mouth, she hated saying it so much. Her eyes bore into the words on her screen, refusing to make eye contact with Jughead. She doesn't need to look up to see his confused expression, slightly furrowed eyebrows and the corners of his mouth slightly turned down. She can imagine it perfectly.

"Yeah, I think we are going to get it out next week."

She says nothing to this, just continues to type. It stressing her out, _he_ is stressing her out. She can't win. The noise of typing begins to emerge from his keyboard, and she knows he went back to work.

"I still can't believe Green Book won." He tries to make conversation once again.

' _It's March, and you are still going on about this? I agree it was a travesty but it was a good movie, you dummy.'_ Is what she wants to say.

"It was good." Is what she actually says.

There is a slight pause as he tries to find some kind of response to that god-awful statement.

"Yeah, but did you watch _Roma_? _The Favourite?_ Incomparable. I still feel robbed and it's been more than a month."

 _'_ _The Favourite was not deserving of best picture and you fucking know it.'_

"Yeah. It sucks."

Her face burns as she types furiously, praying for all of this to end. Praying for her feelings to have been swept away by the hurricane that hit her, and to consider him as nothing more but a good friend. Her fingers begin to gather aggression and hit the keys harshly, as if playing a choppy song on the piano. She doesn't look up.

There's a moment of silence.

It's deafening.

"Max?"

She looks up reluctantly. Jughead's eyes are full of concern.

"Are you…okay? Is something bothering you, because you are acting really standoffish and– "

Her phone rings.

Thank the fucking lord.

She mouths sorry and quickly swipes her screen. Veronica's voice floods her ear.

"Max! My love. It's wine night at mine tonight and you're coming."

Max can't even begin to describe the feeling of relief that floods her. It's as if she was on trial for witchcraft and the huge stones that had been pressed on her had all been lifted.

"Ronnie what? It's a Thursday, you psycho."

Veronica laughs. "It's thirsty Thursday, I'm overwhelmingly bored, and Arch already said in. Even Josie and Reg are gonna come."

Max thinks. "I don't know, Ron. You're gonna have to convince me."

Veronica scoffs. "I can't believe you forgot I'm supplying all the alcohol for you and Archie this weekend. Weekend starts now. I'm supplying. And you're coming."

Max erupts into a grin.

"How could I ever forget. I'll be there."

"Absolutely fantastic. Love you, see you at 8." Veronica chortles into the phone.

"Love you too." The call ends and Max looks at her watch. 7:15.

There has never been a more perfect savior than Veronica Lodge.

"Sorry Jug. I have to go. Veronica is expecting my attendance at her wine night tonight and I'm sure I have to help her set up." Max is shoving her things into her bag pretty rapidly.

"Oh," Jughead stares at her, but she can't read him.

"I'll see you around though, for sure." The rush of adrenaline from the overwhelming amount of emotions experienced has gotten to her, and she shoots him a smile that she tries her best to convey the answers to everything he is thinking. He smiles in return.

"Of course, Maximum. Your company is welcome anytime."

She shoots him one last comforting look to tell him everything is alright, before throwing her bag over her shoulder and speed walking out of the diner.

When the door closes she lets a breath out she didn't even know she had been holding.


End file.
